A good start to April

Yesterday was a really good day.

It was the first time in a few weeks that I actually looked forward to going to church and studying the Bible in and speaking in German. I understood most of Jim's sermon and didn't have problems communicating with people during the breaks. Then, in Bible class, I had my "Big Breakthrough."

For the past several months I've been going to Jim's Bible class on Sundays because it's easier for me to understand him than the other adult class teacher. We're part way through a study of Acts, and so far it's been a good class. Yesterday Jim wanted to talk about Saul's encounter with the voice of Jesus on the road to Damascus and his subsequent conversion. He asked someone to tell the story, and Otto, who is always eager to participate, raised his hand. Jim said, "Otto knows. Does anyone else know?"

Karen and I looked at each other, both having felt frustrated lately with not being able to contribute to class. She told the class that she knew the story in English but didn't know if she could tell it in German. Sylvia told her to try her best, but Karen still looked hesitant, so I said I would try. The next thing I knew, I heard myself telling about how Saul had hunted and killed Christians, how he saw a bright light on the road to Damascus, and how Jesus spoke to him through that light. About the time I was telling about Saul being blind for 3 days, I felt my face getting red. Everyone was watching me, and I suddenly got embarrassed and couldn't find any more words. If I had been Peter stepping out of the boat and walking to Jesus on the water, that's when I would have started to sink.

Karen, though, jumped in where I left off and added more to the story. When she finished Jim filled in a few of the holes to complete the story, and the class went on to discuss it. All I could think about, though, was the elation I was feeling at having bulldozed the hurdle of speaking in class, even if I didn't say all that I had wanted to. To make it even better, Karen had done the same thing. If she had not spoken up and said that she wanted to tell the story but didn't know how, I don't know that I would have said anything. If I had not made the effort to say what I did, I don't think Karen would have contributed either. It was a nice feeling to know we had helped each other make progress.

Since yesterday was the first Sunday of the month, it was our day to travel to Braunschweig and worship with the congregation there in the evening. While these trips always make the day very long, they are always worth it. The congregation in Braunschweig only has 9 members, and they love having us come. To add to the great things about the trip, Soyoung decided to go with us. If you remember from my other posts recently, she's a Korean exchange student at the University of Bremen. She's been coming to church services for the past 5 weeks now and I've been studying the Bible with her, and I thought it was wonderful that she wanted to come along. I was able to translate and explain most of the sermon for her, and she seemed to enjoy the day. Please pray for Soyoung's young belief in God that she may see what this is all about and realize that Jesus loves her and died for her. She's eager to study and not afraid to ask questions, and it's exciting to watch her grow.

Hopefully the rest of April will be as good as the first day was.